The
first day of meteorological spring was greeted by a bitter easterly wind,
zero temperatures and drifting snow. Upon arrival I was surprised to see a
Starling flying into the wind, low over the water, only for it to be plucked
out of the air by a pursuing Kestrel. Two
Oystercatchers were sheltering by
the bushes on the south shore and several Little Grebes and Goldeneyes were
feeding in the calmer waters by the dam (GE). Several Redwings were seen
over Norton Bog (WP). Later in the day a
Ruff (a real site rarity) and 2 Lapwings were in the south-west
corner and the gull-roost held a 2cy
Iceland Gull, 2 adult
Yellow-legged Gulls and an adult
Mediterranean Gull (CwS).

South Shore (GE)

Snow-storm on the dam (GE)

Drake Goldeneye (GE)

Little Grebe and Coot (GE)

2nd

Whiteout conditions led to little being seen although a
Brambling was in the west shore bushes (CwS) and the
Shelduck was still present (GR).

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3rd

A 2cy
Iceland Gull roosted on the frozen Swag. The main roost held a 2cy
Caspian Gull and 4 (2 adults,
4cy, 2cy) Yellow-legged Gulls. A Brambling was in the west
shore wood and a Woodcock was on
the causeway (CwS).

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4th

A 3cy
Iceland Gull was in the roost before the mist descended. On the Swag
there were 2 Yellow-legged Gulls (adult, 5cy) at 16:30 and at 18:20 there was a 2cy
Iceland Gull, 3cy Caspian
Gull and a 4cy Yellow-legged Gull (CwS). 2 Water Rails were
present and Great Crested Grebes were displaying (N).

5th

63 Mute Swans and 44 Canada Geese were on the
main lake (GE). It was good to see a
Kingfisher on the west shore this evening after the big freeze. 2 (4cy,
2cy) Caspian Gulls and 6 (3
adults, 4cy, 3cy, 2cy) Yellow-legged Gulls roosted with the 4cy Caspian Gull
roosting on the Swag (CwS, PJ).

A pair of
Stonechats was on the North Heath, a
Willow Tit was singing near the
feeding station and a Kestrel was seen to catch at least one lizard on the
heath near the Outdoor Education Centre (GE). Three Oystercatchers
were present. A pale 2cy ‘Thayer’s
type’Gull was in the roost along with 2 (adult, 4cy)
Caspian Gulls and 4 (adult, 2
4cy, 2cy) Yellow-legged Gulls (CwS, PJ).

The
roost held 2 (4cy, 3cy)
Yellow-legged Gulls and an adult
Mediterranean Gull

(CwS).

Last night’s 4cy Caspian Gull
was seen at Cannock Tip (CwS).

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11th

A 3cy
Iceland Gull, 4cy Caspian Gull,
2 (adult, 3cy) Mediterranean Gulls and a 3cy Yellow-legged Gull were in the roost. The interesting pale 2cy bird was again in the roost
but heavy rain hampered viewing and prevented any photography (CwS).

12th

A great roost tonight (see Twitter feed on the
homepage for video). The pale 2cy bird is now
considered to be a Kumlien’s Gull
(at the darker end of the range) and an adult
Kumlien’s Gull (now believed to be an Iceland Gull) was also present along with a 3cy
Iceland Gull (yesterday’s
bird), 2 (3cy, 2cy) Caspian Gulls
and 2 (adult, 4cy) Yellow-legged
Gulls (CwS, PJ).

13th

Two
drake Goosanders and 2 Oystercatchers were present and a
Little Egret flew west. The adult white-winged gull was again present in
the roost but no details could be seen to point conclusively to it being a
Kumlien’s Gull rather than an Iceland
Gull. The wing-tips appeared to be all white with the only grey being at
the base of the primaries which contrasted with the pure white tertials.
There may have been a small dark mark on the bill tip and the eye may have
been dark but views were distant. Last night’s other 3cy
Iceland Gull was not seen and the 2cy Kumlien's type was probably present
but not seen well. The gull roost has diminished
considerably with around 900 Lesser Black-backed Gulls, 300 Herring Gulls, 2
adult Yellow-legged Gulls, 5 Great Black-backed Gulls, 5000 Black-headed
Gulls and 2 Common Gulls (GE, PJ).

Iceland Gull (GE)

Drake Goldeneye (GE)

14th

The adult Iceland Gull roosted again along with 5 (2 adult,
5cy, 4cy) Yellow-legged Gulls and the 2cy Kumlien's
type was also present. Only 2 argentatus Herring Gulls
were evident amongst the reduced numbers of argenteus (PJ).
The adult Iceland Gull was also seen at Stubber's Green
during the morning (GWR).

15th

The star of the gull roost tonight was an large male 2cy Caspian
Gull along with 2 (adult, 3cy) Yellow-legged Gulls,
800 Lesser Black-backed Gulls including several intermedius, 200
(mainly immature) Herring Gulls, 3 Common Gulls and at least 5000
Black-headed Gulls. Two Oystercatchers and 2 Goosanders were also present
(CwS, PJ, GE).

On Cuckoo Bank there were 24 Golden Plovers, many singing
Skylarks, several Lapwings and a few Fieldfares (GR).

16th

An
adult Mediterranean Gull flew
south, 2 Oystercatchers and a
Chiffchaff were present and a pipistrelle flew along the dam before dusk
(PW).

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17th

Little was seen in the roost due to haze distortion (PJ).

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18th

A
Wheatear was on the snowy south
shore and a 3/4cy Iceland Gull
was seen distantly in the roost (JA).

A
drake Scaup was present along
with 5 Shovelers, a Goosander, 2 Oystercatchers (PW), at least 30 Goldeneye,
a Tawny Owl, adult
Yellow-legged Gull and 6 Linnets (JK) and the 3cy
Iceland Gull was in the roost
(PJ).

23rd

No records

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24th

The
3cy Iceland Gull roosted (JA).

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25th

The
drake Scaup was still present and
an adult Yellow-legged Gull
roosted (CwS). At least 9 Goldeneye, 20 Wigeon, 5 Shovelers and a Chiffchaff
were also present.

26th

This
evening the Scaup was still
present along with a Redshank and
2 Swallows. Two adult
Yellow-legged Gulls roosted
(CwS).

27th

The
drake Scaup and 7
Swallows were seen during the
morning (GWR) and 17 Sand Martins
and a Chiffchaff were present
during the evening (CwS).

28th

Two
Goosanders and an Oystercatcher were present (PJ).

29th

Two
Sand Martins were seen (PJ).

30th

On
the Swag there were 30 Goldeneye, 53 Tufted Ducks and 4 Wigeon (GE).